Days numbered for illegal downloaders as crackdown is given tick of approval

DO YOU sneakily download or stream TV shows, movies or songs without paying?
Well, the government’s crackdown on the illegal practice has passed a crucial hurdle, which may make the practice much more difficult.
A cross-party Senate committee has given the tick of approval to a law that would give power to big companies to block sites that offer pirated content, such as popular torrenting site KickassTorrents and streaming service Project Free TV.
The Bill would allow copyright holders, such as Hollywood studios and record companies, to apply to the Federal Court to require carriage service providers to block Australians from accessing offending sites.
Copyright holders would be able to apply directly to the court for an injunction to disable access to the sites without having to establish whether the carriage service providers, which house the sites, are liable for the offending content.
The power to block offending sites would only apply to those operated outside of Australia.
The Bill states that the copyright holders would need to meet and “intentionally high threshold test” so that only sites that “flagrantly disregard the rights of copyright owners” are blocked.
The crackdown is designed to be an efficient way to “disrupt the business models” of infringing sites.

The proposed law went before a cross-party committee, which has recommended the law be adopted with minor amendments.
This means that the proposal has been given the bipartisan rubber stamp and is almost certain to pass into law.
Consumer advocacy group Choice has slammed the decision, saying the reform amounts to an “industry-run internet filter” that would “limit access to international websites that offer consumers a greater range of more affordable products and services”.
“At its heart, this is about protecting uncompetitive local industries who have failed to provide timely and affordable content and services,” Choice campaigns manager Erin Turner said.
Ms Turner said the reform wasn’t about just stopping access to torrenting sites such as Pirate Bay or KickassTorrents. It was also designed to stop Aussies from using virtual private networks (VPNs), which can allow Australians to circumvent geoblocks in order to access overseas streaming services.
Many Aussies use VPNs to access the US version of Netflix because it offers more content than the recently launched Australian version.
“We know both sides of politics are under a lot of pressure from big rights holders to support this new law and it looks like they have given in,” Ms Turner said.
The Greens submitted a report criticising the Bill, saying that it would give a “significant new censorship power” to the court and copyright holders.
At the same time, the submission questioned the effectiveness of the crackdown.
“There is a substantial weight of evidence showing that it will be relatively easy to evade the Bill’s provisions, that it does not contain appropriate safeguards, and that it may result in legitimate online sources being blocked,” The Greens submission read.
“Most importantly, there is also a significant weight of evidence showing that the Bill will not meet its aims, as it does not address the underlying cause of online copyright infringement: The continual refusal of offshore rights holders to make their content available in a timely, convenient and affordable manner to Australians.”
The Senate committee has recommended that the government review the effectiveness of the scheme after two years.